The Grey Daughter of Darkness
by swanqueenlove
Summary: Hogwarts through the eyes of Azalea Malfoy is a bit different than what most see. While most view the world as black and white, she only sees grey. Journey with Draco's little sister as she experiences Hogwarts and the second wizarding war. Warning: characters may be OOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me – EXCEPT for Azalea, the rest belongs to Jo Rowling and though I am borrowing her characters, story lines and magical world, I am not doing it for money or to break her** copy right

 _Authors Note: The characters may be OOC as I have never written Harry Potter fanfiction, until now. This chapter was designed as more of an introductory chapter, for the readers to get to know Azalea a bit. However, there won't be a lot_ about _the first two books as Azalea, doesn't begin Hogwarts until the third year and this story really centers around her._

Ch 1

Azalea Carina Malfoy was a welcomed surprise to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, born just two years after her brother Draco. Many who knew her often pointed out the uncanny resemblance between her and her mother, both in looks and in personality, even going as far as to call her Narcissa's "mini me". From a very young age, she was a forced to be reckoned with and not many could say no to the blonde haired, blue eyed witch, especially not her "papa". She refused to refer to her parents as "mother" and "father" but instead called them "mum" or "mama" and "Papa" and no one dared to correct her.

* * *

 _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_

I waited patiently as my brother Draco got fitted for his new Hogwarts robes, it was going to be his first year there next month. Draco complained an awful lot as he got fitted, that was until another boy with shaggy brown hair, glasses and muggle clothing that was at least two sized too big came into the shop.

" Hullo, Hogwarts too?" I hear brother say, while I watched him size up the boy, no doubt to figure out if he was a pure-blood wizard, someone Draco could consider a friend. The boy responded with very minimal words, answering questions when needed, while Draco rambled on about where mum and Papa were, and how he was going to go a get a new racing broom, and how he knew he'd be in the Slytherin house. Malfoys were always in Slytherin, it would be a disgrace not to be. While I didn't fancy myself a Slytherin, I knew that I too would have to be there some day, but really, mama was in Slytherin, and she survived just fine.

I was so lost in my own head that I didn't hear much more of Draco and this boy's conversation, that was until I heard my brother say " I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up in our ways." I groaned – this could be trouble, so I quickly began to pull on Draco's sleeve, as he was done getting fitted.

" Come on Draco, let's go find mama and Papa. If you want to look at brooms, you really mustn't waste time."

Thankfully Draco listened, but not before giving me a scowling look. "Oh, do get over yourself Draco. You don't know who that boy is, or where he comes from, I was saving you from getting yourself in trouble." I said in a distanced way that I had heard mama often talk. Malfoy's had a reputation to upkeep, and I for one would not let Draco ruin that, by starting an uproar in Madam Malkin's of all places.

* * *

The next month was a challenge, at least to me – the month was spent with mother anxiously showering Draco with attention because he was going to Hogwarts soon, and Papa doing the opposite really, telling Mama not to coddle Draco. It's not that I was jealous of Draco, or the attention he was receiving - it was more that I was looking forward to things becoming more normal and routine, rather than the chaos that summer brought.

On the day that Draco went to Hogwarts, both mama and Papa took Draco to the train station, but I opted to stay home as I didn't want to be in a place crowded with muggles. It's not that I was a blood supremacist, or didn't want muggle-borns to be allowed at Hogwarts, it's just that I don't like to be around muggles or muggle things. I had an unfortunate encounter with muggles when I was younger, and it left me with horrible memories, that I still am not quite over.

* * *

The next two years while Draco was at Hogwarts, I continued private lessons, and read all of the same books Draco was reading in school, with the exception of Lockhart's books, mama said those books were a waste of time. I also read many other books on a variety of subjects, even the dark arts – Papa said it wasn't right for the "brightest witch of her age" to be a witch who wasn't even part of a wizarding family, so I was going to do right by the Malfoy name, and surpass her in knowledge, talent, and class. The Dark Lord will return, and when does, the Malfoys will be at his side – ready to fight with him, and for him, and we will be the most powerful family that the wizarding world has ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I only own Azalea, the rest belongs to Jo Rowling.

Ch 2

 _Platform 9 ¾_

"Mama, do I really have to go? Couldn't I just stay at home and learn from private tutors like I have been?" It's not that I didn't want to go to Hogwarts, it's just that it doesn't seem safe, especially after what happened last year.

Mama sighed, but instead of her voice, I heard Papa's "Azalea, Malfoy's do not get scared and they do not hide from anything. You are going to Hogwarts, and no harm will come to you there, Draco has been just fine." I knew this to be Papa's no-nonsense voice, he used it with Draco more often than me, though.

Mama pulled me in close and whispered in my ear "You will be okay, my baby. If you need us we are only an owl away, and Draco will look out for you." With tears in my eyes, I whispered back "But Mama, what if Sirus Black gets into the school, or what if there are more monsters under the school or what if.."

"Azalea, you must be brave, remember you are MY mini-me, and you are going to take that school by a storm. I love you."

"I love you too, mama." I quickly blinked away any tears that threatened to fall, pulled away from mama, kissed my papa's cheek and got on the train, not looking back.

* * *

On my way to what was known as the Slytherin side of the train, I passed many Gryffindor's, I stopped in front of one cart in particular, as a frog leaped onto me. I grabbed the frog and held it out for a rather pudgy looking boy "You really should keep that thing in a cage, or I don't know.. a pond?" The boy muttered something and then walked back in to sit with none other than Harry Potter, a Weasley, and of course, Hermione Granger, all of whom did not look pleased to see me. "Why don't you go back to where you belong, Malfoy?" Sneered Weasley, "No doubt a Slytherin just like your death eater family."

"Yes, well better that than a bunch of blood traitors and muggle lovers like your family." And with that I walked away, I couldn't stand to be near them any longer then I had to be, this was not off to a good start.

I finally found my way to where Draco and his friends were sitting and sat down. "Where have you been then?"

"Honestly Draco, you're not my keeper."

"Yes, well, mother told me to look out for you. Of course, you know, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Daphne." He's right, I did, as every year we have a big Christmas ball at Malfoy Manor, which all the important pure-blood families attend, even the minister of magic himself attends. I scanned the compartment, not really wanting to sit with Draco and his friends, and quickly found Astoria Greengrass, another first year. As Astoria and I were conversing about houses, quidditch, and future classes the lights suddenly began to flicker, I looked to Draco who looked very uneasy and then I noticed a hooded figure roaming the train. "What is that?" I asked with a slightly shaky voice.

"A dementor, they're from Azkaban, they're probably looking for Sirius Black." Answered an older boy of whom I didn't know the name of.

I turned to Astoria whispering, "He's my cousin you know…well,mymum's cousin really, he's the son of mymum's aunt and uncle, but he was blasted off the Black family tree for being a blood traitor. He was the first Black to not be in Slytherin, he was a bloody Gryffindor. The papers say he went crazy and lead the Dark Lord to the Potters, and then after that killed a bunch of muggles too, and now he wants to finish the job and kill the last living Potter." I watched as the dementor left our compartment, and the lights came on again as the train started to move, the rest of the ride to Hogwarts was deadly quiet.

* * *

As I got off the train I heard a voice say "First years this way!" I heard a voice yet, a voice belonging to a big hairy man, I knew to be the groundskeeper Hagrid, I wrinkled my nose up a bit "I'll never understand why they let him stay on grounds after everything he's caused at Hogwarts, he was even kicked out as a student." It's not that I think Wizards are better than giants, or any magical creatures really…I just don't really fancy half-breeds, what kind of person breeds with anything but their own species.

I saw Draco and the other returning students get into carriages led by creatures that almost looked like horses, but darker and more…dead looking. "Astoria? Do you know what those creatures are, that are leading the carriages?"

"There isn't anything leading the carriages, it's just magic pulling them." She replied looking a little confused at my question. I made a note to in my brain to look this up in the library as soon as possible, as I know there is something there.

As we got closer to Hogwarts in our boats, I couldn't help but be amazed, this was to be my home for the next 7 years, well outside of Christmas and summer of course. One thing I didn't like however was that there were several more dementors like the one in the train, outside of the castle.

* * *

Professor McGonagall led the group of first years to the front of the great hall, many were mesmerized by the ceiling that was charmed to show a night sky, I, of course, knew all about it from 'Hogwarts a History' and was more anxious to get the sorting ceremony over with. After the hat had sang it's song, and many students had been sorted – I note that they were mostly Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs but there had been a few Ravenclaws, and several Slytherins as well. Astoria had already been sorted into Slytherin when finally they called my name. "Azalea Malfoy"

I walked proudly to the hat, and it was placed on my head "Ah yes, another Malfoy. I see you think Slytherin would be the best house for you, but you could do quite well in Ravenclaw, with a mind like yours. I see you are also quite loyal."

"Don't you dare put me anywhere but Slytherin, it's where I belong." I hissed under my breath, then suddenly the hat yelled "Alright then, as you wish SLYTHERIN" I stood up, smirked at Draco and happily made my way to my new house.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I only own Azalea, the rest belongs to JK Rowling

Ch 3

The Slytherin common room and dorm rooms were cold, and they felt almost damp, we literally lived in the dungeons, I only ever knew of dungeons to be a place to keep prisoners, a place of torture. I am particularly fond of silver and green though that was all over our common room, it reminds me especially of Papa's study, once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin. I have known my whole life that I would be a Slytherin just like both my parents, every Black and Malfoy that was still on the family tree, was a Slytherin, and I could be no different. It seems much of my life was to be decided for me, I would be a Slytherin, I would be the brightest witch, top of my class in everything, and someday I would be married off to a pure-blood of Papa's choosing, and produce an heir for his family line. I also knew that if Papa had his way I would be a death eater just like him, but mama was not one, and so neither would I be. I would argue that a proper wife and mother could not be a death eater, but that does not mean I am not loyal to the Dark Lord, that is if he returns.

Though I'm not a baby, I did miss my own room the first night. It was the first time I had been away from my mama for a night since I was 3 years old, and I missed her terribly. As a child I chose to never attend sleepovers but instead opted to offer to host them at the manor, I was terrified to be away from parents overnight, and away from the manor. It wasn't that I was a clingy child, or couldn't be away for a certain amount of time, I just didn't want a repeat of history, and didn't trust many people.

As I listened to the prefects tells us about our dorms, and rules I thought of what Papa said "Malfoys do not get afraid", I knew I needed to be strong, I would be just fine here. Besides that, I had Astoria, I have known her since we were little girls. I first met Astoria when I was a baby I've been told, but I just remember her always being there, much like Theodore Nott has been in Draco's life, though they seemed to have drifted apart now. Astoria had always been different from other girls, and held similar views as I did, treating those who deserved it with respect. Now we would be sharing a dorm, even choosing to have beds side by side, we would look out for each other. Plus all of our classes would be together, even though we also shared those classes with the Gryffindor's.

* * *

My very first class at Hogwarts was potions, I actually really liked potions, it was one of my favorite classes, second only to charms. Professor Snape at least treats the Slytherins with a certain level of respect, and always looked to me for answer questions when no one else could. I've heard he quite rude to the Gryffindors, and people say that he greatly dislikes four third year Gryffindors even more than others, so part of me expected him to treat us similarly, but was glad to see that was not the case. But as much as Snape seems to like us, other professors seem to avoid us if possible, professor McGonagall, in particular, seems to not like us, but I wonder if that's just me. It's not that she treats us badly, it's just that she almost expects us to act out, or fail, which I refused to do. I wanted to prove myself as a Malfoy, and a Slytherin, prove that I had what it takes, prove that I didn't need my big brother looking out for me or fighting my battles. I wanted Papa to be proud, and I wanted to make a name for myself, maybe even be brighter than the brightest witch of her age.

I quickly discovered that the charms was my favorite class, and the professor was the very same one who taught my mother. He told me on several times throughout the first few weeks that my mother was very good at charms and that I was just like her. This wasn't news to me of course, but still, it made me happy to know I was following in her footsteps.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I only own Azalea, the rest belongs to JK Rowling

Ch 4

It wasn't that I disliked my brother, or wasn't loyal to him, but obviously, I knew how much of a prat he could be, and couldn't help but be annoyed by his dramatics. Which I when I heard that he was attacked by a hippogriff, and was trying to get it slaughtered, and Hagrid fired I was angry. Not that he wanted Hagrid fired, he really wasn't a great teacher, but that he wanted an innocent hippogriff to be killed. Ever since I was little I had a love for magical creatures of all kinds, I even freed half of our house elves before Papa made me stop. In my mind, I was just trying play dress up with them, it's not like Draco would play with me, and the elves were my friends. Thankfully because they were my friends they didn't want to be freed, and stayed in the manor and served my family despite the clothing I had given them.

Everyone at the Slytherin table in third year was fawning over him, especially Pansy, everyone knew she has some weird love for Draco, but this was ridiculous. He wasn't even injured, and he certainly did not deserve the attention. So after hearing the story of how poor innocent Draco got attacked, and was wrongfully injured by a vile beast, for the seventh time I finally spoke up. "Honestly Draco, why do you make such a big deal over everything? It's a hippogriff, they aren't meant to be your best friend, and it didn't even really injure you."

"The thing is a vicious monster, and Hagrid just let it attack could have killed me, you weren't there, how would you know what happened." Draco sneered back at me. I rolled my eyes, then quickly replied with a smirk "Well I heard that Harry got to ride him all over the grounds, and he seems to also like Hagrid just fine, that doesn't sound that vicious to of course I know what happened, everyone is talking about it, they won't shut up about it really."

"Potter was probably in on it, the attack on me, he wanted me dead. He's a filthy blood traitor, who doesn't even belong at Hogwarts. He was raised by bloody muggles, after all."

I shot him a look of warning "Draco, you need to remember what Papa said about Harry, we are NOT supposed to speak poorly of him, or treat him unkindly." I hissed back to him. "Yes, well even Father does not like Potter, and he's trying to get Hagrid fired so. He is supporting me on this, and you should be too, remember who's side you are on Azalea."

I forced out a laugh "You're such a baby Draco, I swear even I don't need Papa to run and fight my battles for me, and I'm two years younger than you."

Having had enough of this conversation, I quickly turned away from him, and began conversing with a second-year student about our quidditch match that was this weekend, it was against Gryffindor, so we had to win. I would have loved to play quidditch, but typically first years are allowed to play, and besides that, it's not very lady-like. Malfoy women have to behave a certain way which is why I would not be playing on our house team this year, or ever. I was to be a brilliant witch, and to be well mannered, following all the rules that pure-blood women followed, even at age 11 father had many offers of marriage contracts for me. He had not yet accepted any of these marriage contracts for me, in fact, he had told many that he was waiting until I was sixteen to do so.

As soon as I was finished eating, I quickly got up to leave when I heard Draco ask "And where are you off to so quickly?"

"The Library" I replied over my shoulder. I really needed to find out what those funny looking creatures were that were pulling the carriages, and why I could see them, but Astoria couldn't.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Azalea, the rest Jo Rowling created and owns

Ch 5

I spent my evening looked in many magical creature books for these creatures, which ended up being a harder process then I expected. I knew nothing about them other then their appearance from afar, and of course that they pulled the carriages at Hogwarts, but that wasn't enough to go by. After I had been looking for hours, I had jut been about to give up when I heard someone humming quietly, I turned around and noticed Looney Luna Lovegood reading at a nearby table. I didn't know much of the older Ravenclaw, but I did know that Luna always seems to see and know about weird creatures. I spent a few moments contemplating if she would know what they were, finally I decided that there could be no harm in asking.

"Excuse me, Luna, I've heard that you know a lot about magical..um do you happen to know what those creatures are that pull the carriages at Hogwarts?"

Luna just looked at me for a second before she replied "You can see them then? Not many can, they are called Thestrals."

"I knew I didn't just imagine them! Why can I see them and others can't? My friend Astoria couldn't see anything when I mentioned them, what does that mean?" I said as fast as I possibly could.

"My father says that only those who have seen death can see them, have you seen death?" She replied in sort of a spacey way. Suddenly several images came to mind, memories I had pushed far away from my brain for years. Memories that were painful to think about, of spells that a child shouldn't witness, looks of pain, and the look of pure hatred on my father's face. "Are you ok?" Luna asked, interrupting my thoughts. I panicked, quickly grabbed my stuff, and mutter a quick "I have to go" before I ran out of the library and straight to the dungeons.

When I got to my dorm, I pulled the curtains around my bed, and took my robes off but did not bother to change into my night clothing before I climbed into my bed. I laid there and tried to repeat over and over again what had become my motto over these past few weeks "Malfoys are not afraid of anything." Ebony, my black cat jumped on the bed and curled up beside me purring and slightly nudging me with her head, almost as if she could sense my emotions.

I have had Ebony since I was just a little girl, she had belonged to my Auntie Bella, mama's older sister, before she had gone to Azkaban, but then later became mine. Although I never knew my Aunt, I felt connected to her in a way because of Ebony. Mama says that Ebony has only ever truly bonded with first Bellatrix, and then me but would go to no other. Ebony had been lost after Auntie Bella went to Azkaban for almost 5 years, but then appeared at the manor when I needed her. Ebony was there to soothe nightmares, deal with panic attacks, and fight off anything negative in my head, in fact, if she was ever away at night I always had nightmares. Mama says it's simply because I grow anxious when Ebony isn't around. She thinks that because I had a nightmare the very first time she was gone, I now work myself up when she isn't there at night, but I think it's more than that. There is something magical about her, I just haven't figured out what.

I felt myself beginning to calm as I stroked the soft fur of my purring familiar, trying not to think about Thestrals, or why I could see them. I didn't want to be able to see them, for now, they would constantly remind me of death, ofmemories I shouldn't have, and the unsettling feeling that never truly seemed to go away. However, as I slipped into sleep, my thought shifted to more pleasant memories, particularly the memories of running through the gardens at the manor, chasing after Ebony, and giggling when she almost let me catch her then ran at the very last moment.

* * *

Short chapter, sorry guys working on more though!


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